Hometown History

By Shane WatersSociety & Culture True Crime History

Hometown History episodes

January 23, 2023 Wabash, Indiana: The 1826 Treaty That Prevented a Frontier War
Wabash, Indiana. Long time listeners will know that I've been all over the country finding stories. From Florida to Washington State, from Texas to Minneapolis. All this time, there's been one at the end of my street. Literally, at the end of my street that I haven't covered. Two blocks from my office, a small circle of about a dozen log cabins marks the spot of an 1826 treaty between the Potawatomi and the Miami Indian Nations in the U.S. government.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Wabash is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 94 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 180 (Hagerstown, Indiana)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

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17 min
January 16, 2023 San Francisco's North Beach: The Beat Generation's Bohemian Heart
San Francisco, California. last episode we sat down with Brandon at the Beat Museum in San Francisco to learn more about the Beat Movement and the way it forever changed the way Americans have thought about not only literature but life itself. we're going to be looking specifically at the relationship between this movement and the city of San Francisco which has been home to so many interesting people and scenes over the years.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of San Francisco is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 93 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 88 (Crescent City, California)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

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Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
30 min
January 09, 2023 San Francisco's Beat Museum: The 1950s Literary Rebellion
San Francisco, California. In high school, I read Jack Kerouac's novel, On the Road, like everybody else. Living in a small town outside Muncie, Indiana, Kerouac's sense of freedom and adventure appealed to me, as it has so many since its publication in 1957. So when we were in San Francisco this past spring, we stopped at the Beat Museum downtown to learn more about the movement Kerouac helped found a half-century ago.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of San Francisco is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 92 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 88 (Crescent City, California)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
22 min
January 02, 2023 Reno, Nevada: The Six-Week Divorce Capital of America
Reno, Nevada. After our episode on The Conqueror's Curse, I invited Richard Marino back to the studio to talk more about the history of the city of Reno. In that earlier episode, we discussed the ill-fated Howard Hughes film, The Conqueror, that resulted in the eventual deaths of more than 30% of its cast and crew. Before visiting Reno this spring, my only exposure to this city had been the TV show Reno 911, so I was basically expecting a giant trailer park.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Reno is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 91 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 89 (Virginia City, Nevada)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
23 min
December 26, 2022 St. George, Utah: Hollywood's Deadliest Film Set
St. George, Utah. Some would say the 1956 movie, The Conqueror, was cursed from the beginning. It had a terrible script, an unhappy crew, and a producer in Howard Hughes, who would soon lose his mind to an obsessive-compulsive disorder and any number of other unknown mental challenges. Within two years, he quit wearing clothes or cutting his nails and would eat only three different foods, chicken, chocolate, and milk.
TIMELINE
1953: According to Marino, in April and May of 1953, ranchers noticed burns on the skins, faces, and lips of sheep that had been eating grass, and later proved to be radioactive.
1956: Some would say the 1956 movie, The Conqueror, was cursed from the beginning.
1963: Director Dick Powell died in 1963 at age 59.
1979: The following year, John Wayne himself developed the lung cancer that would recur to the end of his life, before killing him in 1979.
1990: In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act into law, offering compensation for people affected by nuclear testing.
2018: As of April 20, 2018, 34,372 claims have been approved for a total of $2,243,205,380.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of St. George is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 90 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
18 min
December 19, 2022 Virginia City, Nevada: The Underground Tunnels Beneath the Silver Boom
Virginia City, Nevada. This episode will be a little different in that I'll be taking you on a mine tour deep underground in Virginia City. This is the city where Mark Twain worked at a local paper in his younger years and became the writer we know and love today. It's also the location of one of the biggest silver strikes in history.
TIMELINE
1853: Between the years 1853 and 1880, 295 mining deaths have been reported.
1860: In 1860, Philip Deichenheimer, a German engineer, came over to Virginia City and he solved the cave-in problem by inventing square set timbering.
1872: Black powder blowing up people's minds about 1872.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Virginia City is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 89 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 91 (Reno, Nevada)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
36 min
December 14, 2022 From Team Hometown History, Introducing: Mystery Inc
From the same team that brings you Hometown History, we want to introduce you to Shane's new show Mystery Inc.

If you enjoy talking about shady mysteries, Aliens, murder, legends, and of course the occasional tea - then Mystery Inc is the podcast for you! Together brothers Shane and Josh Waters travel in their Mystery Machine Tesla scouting out some of the world’s best mysteries to share them here with you on Mystery Inc - which can be found wherever you listen to podcasts.

Find all the places to listen.
Visit Mystery Inc online.

Follow Mystery Inc on Facebook.

Josh is also the host of Rotten to the Core.

2 min
December 11, 2022 Crescent City, California: Surviving Three Devastating Tsunamis
Crescent City, California. I love the atmosphere here. It reminds me of backroom storage rooms for investigation libraries. Oh, -huh. Yeah. That's what this is. This is our research room. We're sitting in the back room of the Del Norte County Historical Museum in Crescent City, California. Across from me at the table is Karen Beteljewski, and she's walking me through the ins and outs of the local archives. So is this where you keep, like, everything for the museum? Yeah, not everything.
TIMELINE
1700: The big tsunami was in 1700, January 26th.
1856: Battery Point was built in 1856.
1949: There was an incident in 1949, 1950, where they built their own harbor here.
1964: However, the 1964 tsunami was not the big tsunami.
2011: In the 2011 tsunami, there were a few things that floated ashore here on the West Coast.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of Crescent City is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 88 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 81 (Death Valley, California)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
28 min
December 05, 2022 San Juan Islands, Washington: The Pig War's Diplomatic Resolution
San Juan Islands, Washington. When things go as well as they did during the Pig War, it can be easy to forget just how wrong they could have gone. I asked former Chief of Interpretation and historian for the San Juan Island National Historic Park, Mike Voorhees, how the Pig War might have ended otherwise. Any an incident, any a hot-headed incident, an American soldier shooting a British naval officer or one of the Royal Marines that was on the ship. But Silas Casey was the American commander on site.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of San Juan Islands is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 87 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 85 (Desolation Peak, Washington)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
26 min
November 28, 2022 San Juan Islands: The Pig War That Nearly Started a US-British Conflict
San Juan Islands, Washington. Have you ever had a fight with a family member over something stupid? Better yet, have you ever had that fight only to realize it wasn't so stupid after all? That behind that excuse for a fight was a real fight just waiting to be had? That's basically the story of the Pig War. Yes, the Pig War, which happened between the Pork and Beans War and the Fenian War, of course. And yes, those are all real wars. They all took place around the American border of modern-day Canada.
TIMELINE
1776: The United States had declared independence from Britain in 1776 and then fought an eight-year war against its former king.
1812: After the War of 1812, the border was set between the United States and the British possessions.
1839: The Pork and Beans War was a border dispute in the state of Maine involving Canadian and American lumberjacks feuding over jurisdiction in 1839.
1858: In 1858, gold was discovered in the Fraser River Valley of British Columbia.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of San Juan Islands is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.
Episode 86 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters
If you liked this: Episode 87 (San Juan Islands, Washington)
Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
34 min

About Hometown History

From the publisher's feed

Discover forgotten stories from small-town America that never made it into history books. Hometown History is the podcast uncovering hidden American history—overlooked events, local mysteries, and…